bench top

[y2knole]

I just built a bench.

finally.

I've beenusing a shelving unit for a couple years, and it served as a surface to put stuff, but didnt have the meat to mount a vise to and just wasnt right.

so I built a sturdy one. Its got a 3/4" plywood top and is framed with studs on 16" centers just like a wall would be. its lag-screwed into the garage wall, and braced with 4x4s, so its sturdy as hell. the plywood top though is rough. so.

my options are

a) run the belt sander over it for a little while, clean it real good and coat it in poly.

b) a layer of mdf on top

c) laminate it with formica.

the formica idea is the leader in the clubhouse. quick, easy, and will look pretty clean when its clean.

thoughts or suggestions?

I DONT want a 18gague steel top.

 

[Falcon67]

Painted MDF, hardboard or another sheet of good one side 3/4 ply. Mine has 7/16" of OSB, 3/4 ply and a 1/8" replaceable hardboard top finished with $12 quart of porch / floor paint. I have a Craftsman bench with a 1 1/4" MDF top painted with same - it used to be the lathe bench and has help up very well, still looks good when cleaned off. Easy to refresh the finish too. I had an older bench that was just 3/4 ply and painted with the porch paint. After about 6 years of smash and dent, I cleaned it off with carb cleaner, quick sand with 80 grit, more paint and back to work.

 

[2manytoyz]

I put hardboard on my workbench tops. A few small brad nails hold it in place. When worn out, peel it up, put down a new skin.

Before being covered with hardboard:

After:

 

[vibenation]

I put hardboard on my workbench tops. A few small brad nails hold it in place. When worn out, peel it up, put down a new skin.

What are those legs on the work bench? They look like bits of Pelican cases!

Did you buy those or fab them up, they look like they would be nice for building and unbuilding benches quickly, something I occasionally do for projects and would save hauling out the saw and hacking up some 4x4!

 

[2manytoyz]

The legs are part of the 2x4 Basics Kit. Their website is here: http://www.2x4basics.com/WorkBench-Legs.asp

I bought my first kit on Amazon, with free shipping & no tax. The second one I found locally at Northern Tool on sale ($39).

The kits include the 4 nylon legs, assembly hardware, tool hangers, and even a pseudo bench vice. You supply the lumber. You decide how big, and what shaped workbench you want. Each shelf is rated at 1000 lbs. I've had ~ 600 lbs of batteries & equipment on the upper shelf of one of these benches for years. VERY stable. I also moved an assembled table to the new house by dragging it onto a utility trailer. No flexing, no fear of tearing a leg off.

I didn't build the shelves as they showed. I built mine like a wall first, skinned it with plywood, then hardboard, then mounted the shelves on the ledges built into the shelves.

You can put a shelf in each of the 3 ledges, or just two if you want some room between the shelves for taller equipment. I've built one with 2 shelves, the other with 3.

If I had more room, I'd build another one!